Residents of Hawaii woke up to a terrifying notification on videos of older women being picked up for unpaid sexSaturday morning when the Emergency Alert Service issued a ballistic missile warning, telling residents to "seek immediate shelter."
"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," the alert, which was delivered at approximately 8:07 a.m. HST, reads.
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U.S. Represenative Tulsi Gabbard tweeted shortly after the alert, confirming that it was a false alarm.
"I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile," she wrote.
The Twitter account for Hawaii Emergency Management also noted that there there was no threat to the state.
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Approximately 38 minutes after the initial alert was sent out, an additional alert was issued stating, "There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm."
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The Federal Communications Commission did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The website for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency was also offline Saturday, possibly due to an influx of traffic.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable According to Buzzfeed News reporter Amber Jamieson, a representative for the HEMA said the alert was pushed as part "of a drill that was going on." Even though the message clearly states, "THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
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In addition to mobile devices, the alert also interrupted local TV.
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NBC News reports the alert was based on "human error, according to Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz.
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With tensions between the United States and North Korea at an all time high, the alert sent panic throughout the region and continental United States. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have both threatened each other with the possibility of nuclear attack in recent months, as North Korea continues to test its nuclear capabilities, despite condemnations from the rest of the world.
In November, Hawaii began retesting its Cold War-era siren due to a possible threat from North Korea. It's unclear if those sirens were tested in the false alarm on Saturday, but it appears as if the alarm was only issued using the wireless emergency alert (WEA) system, which was established in April 2012.
It was all too real for people in Hawaii. According to New York Timesmedia reporter Sydney Ember, people were sheltering in basements, some crying and holding each other.
Ember's and other tweets showed the pure panic that ensued after receiving the alert.
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While some called for a revamp of the alert system, Jon B. Wolfsthal, director of the Nuclear Crisis Group noted that the false alarm not only panicked the entire nation, but was incredibly dangerous, and easily could have sparked an accidental war.
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White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters issued the following statement on the incident:
"The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise."
UPDATE: Jan. 13, 2018, 12:23 p.m. PST
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